In some ways, Nachliel Jacobs is your average Orthodox Jewish twelve year old boy. He loves sports, music (he plays the drums) and hanging out with his three younger siblings. But there is something about this New York native which sets him apart from other pre-teens: instead of having a bar mitzvah party for just […]

Several years ago, I was at a conference, and a guy at my table started up with me after he found out that I was observant. “I’m not religious,” he began, “but I get Shabbat. I see the value in kosher. But that whole no touching before marriage thing that you Orthodox Jews do – that […]

I was recently talking to a reporter from a major women’s magazine who’s working on a story about Orthodox women and modest dress, and as I was giving her the lowdown, she commented that I seem so confident about my body. Did dressing modestly help me with that, she wanted to know. It was weird, […]

For our fifteenth anniversary, my husband and I did something we’ve never done since we started having kids a dozen years ago: get away for more than one night without a fetus or nursing baby. My in-laws were kind enough to offer to take our kids for several days, and we decided that Sunday to […]